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Karen raced into the hallway in time to see Naria being hustled through a portal. She took in the broken bannister and the scorched patches before her eyes fell on her parents. “What happened? I felt a power surge and then a frenzying dragon. Was it Naria?”

“I’m afraid so.”

Karen frowned as Sonia told her what had happened. “You have to do something about him if his grasp on his powers is slipping. After all it’s not just the dragons that he might panic about if he runs into them.” She gave a crooked smile. “Though his family might actually deserve it.”

“More than Naria did, anyway,” Sonia said. “Poor girl.” She looked up as Sarah came running down the stairs. “Took you long enough.”

“Sorry,” Sarah said. “It was a struggle to wake up and it took me a few minutes to shake it off. What the hell happened?”

Sonia explained again and Sarah frowned deeply.

“He lost control of his powers?” she exclaimed. “What the hell? He’s not fourteen any more!” She laid a hand on his forehead and sighed in relief. “This could have been a lot worse. I’ll patch up his innards so that we can move him and we’ll put him to bed to recover his energy. What are we going to do about Naria? They’re so tangled up that Andrew needs her around at least until they are used to it, but…” She trailed off meaningfully.

“Andrew and Lyr had an idea to deal with the problem,” Sonia said. “I don’t see any reason it couldn’t still work.”

“What idea?” Sarah laid one hand on Anthony’s forehead and the other on his wound and closed her eyes. Her aura flared in a rich golden brown around her as she began to heal him.

“They want Ystelyan to formally lend her services to one of them in the way Estara lent Kelaria to Daniel,” Sonia said. “Apparently that will let them stop her frenzying the way he can. There’s only one other thing that might work, but I don’t think anyone would want that.”

“If you mean collaring her, it wouldn’t work even if I was inclined to,” Matthias said. “Now that she’s matured she’s too strong for the collar. I think this is the best we can do and everyone will need to keep their dragons close so we can stop them if anything happens.” He paused. “And Sal, when you’ve a moment perhaps you can try and find a solution to the problem?”

“I’m intending to if any of the dragons are amenable but at the moment I just can’t: these collapses are a far more serious problem. Maybe once I’ve trained some more people in what to do.” Sarah pinched the bridge of her nose. “Okay, I’ve fixed his physical injuries. Let’s get him to bed, then I need a cup of tea before I have a look at Selene.” As Matthias picked up Anthony, Sarah turned to Lucas, who was sitting nearby looking exhausted. “And you should go to bed as well.”

“I should,” he agreed. “She got quite a lot of my energy before I managed to block her.” He frowned briefly. “It felt like part of her was trying to hold back even while she was frenzying or I may not have managed it at all.”

“She’s certainly strong enough to retain a small amount of control when she frenzies.” Lyrrekka said as she emerged from a portal with Kyle. “To survive those injuries she’d have to be.”

“Bad?” Sarah blanched when Lyrrekka recounted the extent of her injuries. “Shit! No wonder she lost control.”

“We’re going to go back and stay until she’s well because Andrew won’t leave her,” Lyrrekka said. “I just came back to pick up Kenna, the girls and my court so you don’t have to worry about them while I’m gone.”

“That’s a good idea.” Matthias nodded. “Keep us up to date on how she’s doing.”

“Of course.” Lyrrekka headed for the front door. “Though I don’t imagine it will be more than a day. I’ve ordered everyone to meet me at the stables so I’ll see you later.”

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